The integrative medicine philosophy

If you’ve attended one of the Functional Oncology webinars in the Angeles Health Educational patient webinar series you will recall Dr. Perez, functional medicine specialist, referring to the ‘integrative medicine approach’.

Here we explore further, what is meant by the Integrative Medicine Approach, in Dr. Perez’s own words:

“Integrative medicine “cherry picks” the very best, scientifically validated therapies from both conventional and CAM systems. (note: Visit the Functional or Integrative Approach to learn more about integrative, conventional and CAM.) In his New York Times review of Dr. Weil’s latest book, “Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being,” Abraham Verghese, M.D., summed up this orientation well, stating that Dr. Weil, “doesn’t seem wedded to a particular dogma, Western or Eastern, only to the get-the-patient-better philosophy.”

I think both Dr. Verghese and now Dr. Perez put that quite nicely: ‘the get the patient better philosophy’ sounds pretty good! To most patient’s, it does not matter what the approach is, or how it is defined rather, but that it works, and that it achieves the desired end result of ‘getting better’. In more technical terms, Dr. Perez describes Integrative medicine as follows:

Integrative medicine is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the
whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle.
It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate
therapies, both conventional and alternative.

To learn more about the Functional Oncology Program at Hospital Angeles, join an educational, no pressure webinar. Select the date and register for free at Webinar Schedule.